Chinese Military Can Detect US Air Force F-22A Raptor Stealth Fighter

The Chinese military is able to detect U.S. F-22 stealth fighter jets, according to a Chinese military expert in an interview for a CCTV program.

Several fighters from East China Sea Fleet patrolled around the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea after receiving orders that unidentified tracking occurred near the ADIZ on the morning of Feb. 10, according to a report on PLA Daily on Feb. 11.

The report said that helicopters from a carrier-based helicopter brigade along with the carrier patrolled around the area and missiles were set on fighters on duty at nearby military airports which were prepared to take off for combat. However the report did not disclose which country the objects belong to or other relevant information.

Some Western media guessed that the unidentified objects might be the U.S. F-22 stealth fighter jets. Chinese military expert Yin Zhuo told Asia Today that if the unidentified objects appearing near ADIZ over the East China Sea turned out to be F-22 from the U.S., it would be a good opportunity for China's military to practice its ability to find, identify and intercept stealth fighters.

Does China's military have the ability to find and identify stealth fighters? Military experts said that new type of Chinese Phased Array Radar is able to fulfill this task. Yin also said that F-22 is not totally stealth and meter-wave radar could detect the fighter. Radars arranged towards the East China Sea are able to find the F-22 stealth fighter jets, according to Yin. Besides, airborne early warning and control aircraft like KJ-2000 and KJ-500 are also equipped with the ability to detect stealth fighter jets.